The ‘Superbad’ Director Emerging as the Frontrunner to Helm DC’s Explosive Deathstroke and Bane Team-Up
DC Studios has been quietly assembling one of its most intriguing villain-led projects since James Gunn and Peter Safran took over the reins of the studio, and the pieces are finally starting to fall into place. The untitled ‘Deathstroke and Bane’ team-up film has been one of the more talked-about titles in development, carrying with it the promise of bringing two of Batman’s most fearsome adversaries to the big screen together for the first time.
The project was first confirmed to be in early development by sources speaking to Deadline, with DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran attached as producers. Writer Matthew Orton, best known for his work on ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, was tapped to pen the screenplay, though DC Studios chiefs made clear they would not greenlight the project until they were satisfied with a complete script. Now, according to Deadline, the search for a director may finally be narrowing, and the name emerging is one that DC fans will recognize from a very recent collaboration.
Greg Mottola, the filmmaker behind beloved comedies ‘Superbad’ and ‘Paul’, is reportedly the frontrunner to potentially direct the film. It is a pairing that makes considerably more sense once you factor in Mottola’s growing relationship with the DC world. James Gunn brought Mottola into the fold to helm episodes two and three of ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2, with Gunn noting that he had been a huge fan of the director since seeing his debut film in the nineties. That working relationship clearly left a strong impression on the DC boss.
Speaking during the ‘Peacemaker’ Season 2 press junket, Gunn described Mottola as “the best collaborator of all time,” adding that the director fully understood both the dramatic and comedic dimensions of the show. That kind of praise from a studio head who is notoriously selective about his creative circle goes a long way toward explaining why Mottola would be the first name considered when a major DC feature needed someone behind the camera.
Exact plot details for the ‘Deathstroke and Bane’ project remain under wraps, with sources indicating that while both characters will appear in the film, it is still unclear whether they would serve as the central figures of the story rather than part of a larger ensemble. It is also not immediately clear whether the film will be set within James Gunn’s forthcoming DCU or whether it will exist as a separate entity in its own continuity, in the vein of the ‘Joker’ films.
Bane and Deathstroke both have extensive live-action histories worth noting. Bane is most recognizable to mainstream audiences through Tom Hardy’s commanding performance in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, while Deathstroke has been portrayed across various series including the CW’s ‘Arrow’ and the Max series ‘Titans’. The script from Orton has reportedly since been submitted to Gunn and Safran for review, marking a meaningful step forward for the project’s development.
With ‘Clayface’ already well into pre-production and ‘The Brave and the Bold’ slowly taking shape on the horizon, the untitled ‘Deathstroke’ and ‘Bane’ film is one of three DC movies in development centered around Batman mythology. Mottola bringing his blend of sharp character work and tonal intelligence to a story involving two of Gotham’s deadliest operators is a genuinely compelling prospect, and now that fans know who might be sitting in the director’s chair, the question becomes what version of these iconic villains he would choose to bring to life.
